Of Polka Dot Shorts and Nightmares
by stormyskyz
Summary: Sun Hill CID deal with a strange case involving unusual nightmares and child kidnapping's.
1. DAY 1

**Of Polka Dot Shorts and Nightmares.**

**Author's Notes:-**

**Slight crossover with the X-Files post season 9, No spoilers though. DRR.**

**Background Information.**

**John and Monica, (from the X-files), have ended up in ****London**** 9 years after the End of The Truth. They are now married, under a new name with 2 children, an 8 year old son, Matthew and a 3 year old daughter, Josie. The story takes place after Kerry is shot but sometime before the explosion and Andrea's exposure. Neil and Andrea have been together on the quiet for about five months. He knows she's a journalist but no one else does. Major spoilers for anyone in Aus and NZ.**

**Spoilers: March episodes of The Bill in the UK.**

**Dedications:- I'd like to thank, Gem6, for reviewing every story I have wrote so far, I never would have had the heart to continue any of them without you and, my colleagues from work, (who I hope never see this) who gave me the inspiration for this without even knowing it, just by acting like a bunch of kids on a quiet Wednesday afternoon. Nothing unusual there. (strange dreams come when you are bored out of your mind).**

**Summary:- Sun Hill ****CID**** deal with a strange case involving unusual nightmares and child kidnapping's. Andrea/Neil romance. Slight X-files Crossover.**

* * *

**DAY 1**

**The Stairwell.**

"Ah, there you are Neil; can I speak to you in my office please?"

"Gov,"

"NOW!"

"Yes Sir,"

**

* * *

A Few minutes later in Okaro's Office:**

"Have you any suspicions on who the leak could be?"

"Not yet sir, No!"

"It's essential that we find out who's behind it as soon as possible."

"I know that Sir?"

"Good, we don't want this to get any further. Whoever is behind this has caused some pretty big problems."

"I know that Sir, it's one of my top priorities."

"Good, get back to work. Oh and Neil, this conversation stays inside these 4 walls,"

"Of course Sir."

**

* * *

Down in the ladies locker room.**

"Mornin everyone," says Honey in an overly cheerful voice.

"Mornin," everyone else in the room mumbles.

"You'll never guess what I heard, up in CID last night."

What?" asks Yvonne, "and what was you doing up there anyway?"

"I was just dropping off a case file for the DI, he'd already left apparently and when I walked in the main office Phil and the others burst out laughing …,"

"… and?" interrupts Yvonne.

"Well apparently Phil and Ken were walking past the DCI's office a few minutes earlier and the door was open and they heard him on the phone with someone, talking about some kind of practical joke. The only thing is they didn't get to hear much because they were almost spotted so they darted into the safety of the main office."

"Someone's gonna be in trouble when Meadows finds out," giggles Andrea.

"Come on you lot," calls Inspector Gold, poking her head around the door, "everyone's waiting for you in the briefing room."

"Coming Ma'am," they all say before following her into the briefing room.

**

* * *

Inside the briefing room:**

"Now that everyone's here," starts Inspector Gold, "The DI wants to speak to you all before I give out the assignments."

Gina takes a couple of steps back and DI Manson steps in front of the relief. "Right, as you may or may not have already heard we've had a recent spate of kidnappings in the area. Mostly young children between the ages of 5 and 10. They have all been taken in broad daylight not far from there homes. About 3 to 5 days after they have been reported as missing they have turned up dead, over 30 miles from the place they were last seen, face down in a forest clearing."

"How many have there been?" asks one of the officers in the room.

"6 so far, which we know about, maybe more."

"Are there any suspects?"

"At the moment we've got no firm suspects, we're looking into anyone in the area with convictions for GBH, ABH, manslaughter and offences against children."

Smithy fills in the next part, "The Super has given permission for 3 uniform officers to help with this case. That means some of you lot."

"Ok," Inspector Gold, takes over again; "PC's Hemmingway, Dunbar and Powell are to help CID, the rest of you are paired with the same person you were with yesterday. Any Questions."

Nobody moved. "Ok, then, get out there."

Everyone in the briefing room moved toward the door and out into the yard.

Andrea, Yvonne and Lance all follow the DI up to CID.

In the CID office they are greeted with total chaos. "Hey Gov," shouts Phil, "We've got a report of another kidnapping."

"Ok, Phil, Sam, Ken, my office, now."

They all crowd into the DI's office.

"Ok, Phil, what have you got?"

"A small boy, 8 years old, abducted from the street in front of his house. Apparently he was riding his new bicycle up and down the street, his mother was in the front garden. She took her eye off him for 2 minutes and the next thing she knows he's no where to be seen."

"Has anyone spoken to the neighbours? Checked the neighbouring streets? Maybe he just went to a mate's house."

"She only took her eye off him for a couple of minutes Gov. She checked on the neighbours but no one was home."

"Ok, you and Sam get down there, take Lance with you, Ken, you and Yvonne find out as much as you can about this latest report. Friends, neighbours, everything you can find. We need as much as we can get."

"Gov," say Phil and Ken leaving the office, with Sam, Lance and Yvonne.

"What about me?" asks Andrea, when the others have left.

"I want you to come with me to talk to the latest victim's parents. Their daughter was found dead early this morning and no one's been to talk to them yet."

Neil and Andrea leave the building and head over to the victim's house.

**

* * *

Outside the house:**

Neil taps 3 times on the door. The door is opened almost immediately, and they are left standing facing a man with blotchy red eyes. It's obvious he had been crying recently.

"Mr Jones? I'm DI Manson and this is PC Dunbar, Sun Hill, can we come in?"

"Ha … have you found Lucy? Is she ok?"

"It would be better if we could speak about this inside if you don't mind Mr Jones."

"O … of course, my apologies, please, come on in," says Mr Jones stepping out of the way to allow them to enter.

He closes the door behind them and shows them to the living room. "Please, take a seat officers, would you like anything to drink?"

"No thank you Mr Jones," says Neil taking a seat on the large, overly comfortable sofa beside Andrea.

"Call me Tom, Please."

"Tom, then, your daughter was found in the early hours of this morning, in a field in Hendon. I'm afraid, she's not survived."

"No …" Mr Jones says shocked, "that can't be. My baby, my little baby girl. Who did this?"

"Unfortunately we don't know. I've got officers working on it right now. We want to catch him just as badly as you do."

"I can't believe this? How am I gonna tell my wife? She's upset enough as it is."

They continue talking for over an hour. They leave when the DI gets a call from Phil, saying they've got a lead.

Andrea and Neil drive to the place where Phil is waiting for them.

"What have you got Phil?" calls Neil, marching over to him with Andrea at his heels.

"The latest kidnapping, the 8 year old boy, the parents have remembered something. It may not be connected but, according to the boy's mom, he woke up in the middle of the night after having a nightmare."

"Lot's of kids have nightmare's Phil."

"I know that Gov, but the mom said that he normally doesn't talk about his nightmare's, but this one had him pretty shaken up."

"What do you mean?"

"He told his mom that in his dream he is in a large circular room, filled with bright coloured spots. He is approached by a man in polka dot shorts, who carries him into another room. In this room he is surrounded by fire, with no way out. He is tied to a chair and left in the room with the fire lapping at his clothes. The next thing he knows, he's lying dead, face down in a field surrounded by police officers. That's all she can remember. It's probably nothing but …"

"Ok Phil, go talk to the parents of all the other victims, see if they noticed any unusual nightmares or behaviour. This could be an important link."

"Yes Gov,"

Phil goes off to question the families of the other victims and Neil and Andrea head back to the station to search for information on crimes involving strange nightmares.

The day progresses slowly and the end of shift eventually rolls round. The officers all head home. The only people remaining in the CID office are, Andrea and Neil.

* * *

"Ok, coasts clear," says Andrea tiptoeing out into the main stairwell.

Neil quietly follows behind her and together they sneak into the DCI's office.

"Meadows is gonna kill us when he finds out about this."

"Yep," is all Neil says.

They use 10 rolls of toilet paper to wrap around various pieces of furniture in the office, making sure to disguise the CCTV camera installed to catch his reaction.

"Ok, that's enough, lets get outta here," says Neil, sneaking out of the room and back to CID.

"NEIL IS THAT YOU?" bellows Superintendent Okaro down the hallway.

"Gov," cringes Neil.

"Still here?" Okaro asks when he gets close enough.

"I was just on my way home Sir."

"I won't keep you, I just wanted to know if you've had any developments with the abduction case?"

"Possibly sir, the mother of the latest victim reports that her son suffered a horrific nightmare the night before he was taken, that is quite unusual for him. We're checking if any of the other victim's suffered anything similar, but it's probably nothing."

"… and about our conversation this morning?"

"Nothing so far Sir."

"Keep me posted," says Okaro before walking off down the stairs.

"Will do Sir," Neil answers before heading back to his office to collect his stuff.

"Thanks for waiting for me?" he says to Andrea when he enters his office.

"Sorry, I didn't think it was a good idea for him to see us both sneaking about after hours so I made a dash for your office."

"Yeah, that was probably a good idea. Let's get out of here before he comes back," says Neil putting his coat on.

He turns round to find his face mere millimetres from Andrea's. He closes the gap between them and they lock in a passionate kiss.

They don't break apart for several minutes and when they do they are both out of breath. They catch their breath before heading out of the office and down to the car park in silence.

"Want a lift home?" asks Neil.

A nod of her head is enough of an answer and they both get into his car and drive away from the station.

**

* * *

Outside Andrea's flat:**

"Want to come in for a coffee?" asks Andrea before opening the door to get out.

"… Well I probably shouldn't but … I suppose one won't hurt."

They both get out of the car and Andrea leads the way into her flat.

She open's the door for them, Neil closing it behind him, and puts her coat on the coat rack in the hall, she instructs Neil to do the same, before heading into the kitchen to put the kettle on.

Neil comes up behind her and wraps his arms around her waist.

A comfortable silence falls between them, neither knowing what to do or say. Andrea turns round to face him and is about to speak. She is cut off as Neil brushes his lips against hers, gently at first, but then harder when she begins to respond.

"Forget the coffee," Neil manages to get out between kisses.

They stumble up the stairs towards Andrea's bedroom and collapse on the bed in a tangled heap. In a flurry of heated kisses and flying articles of clothing they strip down to nothing. Rolling in the sheets, they join as one.

**

* * *

A few hours later:**

Sometime in the middle of the night, Andrea wakes up with a start. Shaking with fear, she sits up trying to catch her breath. Neil stirs beside her and also sits up to see what's wrong. Beside him, Andrea is sitting crying her eyes out.

"What's wrong?" asks Neil, not knowing what happened to make her so jumpy.

"Nightmare," Andrea manages to get out between her tears.

She takes a few calming breaths before continuing. "I know what's happening. … With the abduction cases. It's like that boy said. A man in Polka Dot shorts. I was there. He … he … burnt me alive."

"Slow down, what are you talking about?" interrupts Neil.

Andrea takes a deep breath, and then explains again "The boy that was abducted yesterday. Phil said the Mom said something about a nightmare. I've just had the same dream. Only, it was different. It wasn't like any other dream I've had before. It seemed too real. Almost like I was there, seeing everything from his eyes. The polka dot shorts, the room of fire, being burnt alive, everything. I felt it. We've got to find him Neil. I can just feel it."

"Ok, calm down, there's not much we can do tonight. Let's try to get a few more hours sleep ok, we'll look into it more in the morning."

"I'm scared!"

Neil wraps her into his arms and pulls her down to lie on his chest. "It's ok to be scared," he mumbles in her hair drowsily.

They drift steadily back to sleep in each others arms, safe in the knowledge that they are safe for the time being.

* * *

**Well what do you think? More coming soon if you like it.**

**To Gem6 and anyone else who is interested, I have not forgot my other story, (A Few Little Surprises), i've lost my notes, and as soon as I find them i'll type up the next chapter.**


	2. DAY 2

**Of Polka Dot Shorts and Nightmares.**

**Author's Notes:-**

**This is the Chapter that includes some references to the X-files. Nothing much though, so if you haven't seen it don't worry about.**

**Responses to Reviewers**

**Mz - They are my favourite shows too. Here's the next chapter, Enjoy.**

**Gem6 - Glad your liking it so far. This is nothing like I normally write so I wasn't sure how it would go down. No Probs about the Dedication thing. I would have lost confidence in writing ages ago if it wasn't for you.**

**stacey - You don't really need to have seen the x-files to understand this. I just put that in because there are a few slight references to it.**

**Fabio - Glad your liking it so far. Here's chapter 2. Enjoy.**

**

* * *

DAY 2 **

**Andrea's flat, 6am the next morning:**

The buzzing of the alarm clock disturbs the silence of the room. Reaching over with a lazy arm, Andrea hits the snooze button. She rolls over and sits up, yawning her head off. She stretches her arms up above her head, then relaxes back to her previous position. Gathering all of her energy, she gets out of bed and heads straight to the shower.

At the loss of contact Neil wakes up. Noticing Andrea is no longer beside him, he gets out of bed and looks around for her. Hearing the gentle sound of falling water, he concludes she must be in the shower, and so makes his way quietly into the bathroom. He sneaks up behind her and wraps his arms around her waist, giving her a good morning kiss.

They shower in silence and hurry to get ready for work. When they are ready, they jump into Neil's car and drive towards the station. Neil drops Andrea off a couple of street's away from the station entrance.

"Will this be ok?" he asks.

"Perfect," answers Andrea getting out of the car, "I'll see you inside in a bit."

"Yeah."

Andrea gets out of the car and continues the rest of the journey to work, on foot. A few seconds later, Neil drives past.

**

* * *

In the Ladies Locker Room: **

Andrea walks in the ladies locker room to find, Yvonne, Honey and Kerry, talking about boyfriends. At her entrance the others immediately turn there attentions onto her.

"So Andrea, what about you? Who's in your sights?" asks Honey

Andrea answers with a secretive smile, "Who says I like anyone."

"Oh, come on," Kerry butts in, "your face says it all, so, who is it?"

Not wanting to tell them about the DI, she stalls, "It's no one you know," she answers.

"But there is someone?" interrupts Yvonne.

"Yeah," she reluctantly tells them.

The girls continue on with there conversation.

"Want to know what I've heard?" asks Yvonne.

"Yeah, what?" asks Honey.

"The boys in CID think the DI is going out with someone in the station, on the quiet."

"Yeah right, like who?" laughs Andrea nervously. They can't know. she argues with herself.

"Don't know," says Yvonne, "but I'm planning on finding out. You was working with him all yesterday wasn't you Andy, did he say anything interesting? Any clues?"

"Sorry," she answers, "nothing."

They leave the locker room, still laughing and joking, and make their way into the briefing room.

Gina Gold follows them inside. She walks to the front of the room and then makes a coughing noise to get everyone's attention.

Everybody stops what they are doing and listen to what she has to say,

"Ok everyone, today's assignments, PC's Hemmingway and Dunbar are still helping CID, PC's Powell and Stamp, in the Area car, Sergeant Smith and PC Hunter, sierra 2, the rest of you are on foot patrol."

She gives them a few seconds to let it sink in before sending them on there way.

Yvonne and Andrea, walk in companionable silence up to CID. They are met with the DI yelling at someone.

"No change there then," comments Yvonne elbowing Andrea in the ribs.

Hearing the new voices, Neil whips round to face them.

"The uniform girls are here," calls out Rob loudly, earning a laugh from Phil and Ken.

"Gina managed to spare you for another day then," is the greeting they get, "Ok lets get to work. Phil have you uncovered anything new on this nightmare business?"

"Yes Gov, two of the other victims parents have reported the same thing."

"Ok, what else have we got?"

"Not a lot gov, we've pinned on a map the places the children have been abducted from to see if we can find a pattern, but nothing so far."

"Has anyone else got anything to add?"

Everybody shakes there head, no.

"What about the places the bodies were found?" starts Andrea, "is there any links there."

"Don't think so," answers Phil, pinning the places on the map anyway.

Andrea steps closer to the map and studies it intently, tracing circles with her fingers. She stops suddenly and turns to face the others. "Here," she says, circling an area of the map with her finger, "the children are being taken to a building somewhere in this area."

"How do you work that one out?" asks Neil stepping up beside her to get a better look at the map.

"This is the centre of all the places the children were taken from and the centre of where their bodies were found. It makes perfect sense."

"Maybe, but that's a pretty large area. It will take forever to search it all so how do we narrow it down?"

"That bit I haven't worked out yet."

"Well at least that's a start. Ok, lets all start by looking into which of these buildings is the most likely target. Which ones are unused, dig up everything you can, we need to know what we're looking at here, I'm gonna go and speak to the parents of the latest victim, see if I can find out anything else useful."

He goes into his office and grabs his jacket, and then walks back out into main office. "Andrea, your coming with me," he says heading for the stairs.

"Hooo, someones got an admirer," sniggers Yvonne, "he wouldn't happen to be Mr Mystery Lover, would he," she adds a lot quieter.

"As if," is all Andrea says, walking out of the office, jogging a few steps to catch up with Neil.

They don't speak till they get to the safety of the car park and his car.

"The girls are getting suspicious," explains Andrea, "they were talking in the locker room this morning, and are convinced your going out with someone from work."

"Have they got any ideas who?" Neil asks.

"Not yet no, but we've got to be more careful."

They arrive at the worried parent's house and knock on the door. It is opened almost immediately.

"Police I assume," says the man, "Come in," he adds when they nod in response.

Neil and Andrea follow the man into the warm living room.

"Mr and Mrs Doggnett, DI Manson and PC Dunbar, Sun Hill," introduces Neil.

"Nice to meet you," says Mr Doggnett shaking hands with each in turn, "please call me John. Have you found anything yet?"

"Possibly," answers Neil, "According to one of my officers, your wife said something about your son suffering from a horrific nightmare the night before he was taken."

"Yes," explains John, "I know this may sound awfully strange officers, but our son has a special gift."

"What sort of a gift?" asks Andrea.

"He has dreams, visions you could call them, usually they are nothing, but sometimes …"

"I see," says Neil.

Mrs Doggnett steps in, "it sort of runs in the family," she explains.

"Ok, is there anything else you can tell us that may help us find who is behind this?"

"Mommy, when is Mattie coming home," comes a small voice from the doorway.

"Come here Josie," calls Monica to her daughter.

The little girl, runs over and sits on her mothers lap.

"This is our daughter, Josie," John explains to the police officers.

"Hello," says Andrea to the little girl.

Josie, says a small "Hello," before hiding her face in her mothers chest shyly.

"I don't think there is anything else we can tell you," says Monica, turning to Neil and Andrea once again, "except that the dream is probably the biggest clue any of us are ever gonna get."

John shows the two officers to the door. Before they go John stops them and says, "Please find Matthew, I'm not sure either of us could cope with this happening again."

"What do you mean?" asks Andrea.

John takes a calming breath before answering, "I had another son, a long time ago now, … he was killed; it was just like this, he was abducted from outside our house in broad daylight, I was at work at the time, I was a New York cop, He was found face down in a forest , three days later. I went through hell for years afterwards. I can't go through that again."

"Don't worry Mr Doggnett, we'll find your son."

**

* * *

Later that day: **

Neil and Andrea were back in Sun Hill. Everybody was busy digging up information on the possible whereabouts of the boy. Nobody able to find anything useful.

The hours crawl by with night drawing closer and closer. Just as they are about to give in for the day and head home they get a breakthrough.

A probable building comes to there attention. The building, an old pantomime theatre, is the most likely location, for the abducted children to be held and killed.

Neil organises a team and they go raid the building. Inside the broken down, abandoned building, they find a maze of corridors. They slit into pairs and take a corridor each.

They come upon a room, with a locked door. "This looks promising," comments Neil kicking the door down.

They break through the door and stop to look around the room. It is large and round and the walls are decorated with multi-coloured spots.

Andrea, come to a sudden stop, with a shocked expression on her face.

"Oh. My God," she says, when she regains use of her voice, "its exactly the same as in my dream."

"What are you talking about?" asks Yvonne, who comes up behind them, followed closely by Tony Stamp.

"Last night," explains Andrea, "I had a nightmare, it was the same as the little boy's. It was this room. We've gotta be close."

They continue moving through the room and find another door at the opposite side of room. This door opens easily and they all walk through. They find themselves in another room. This one is totally black and smells strongly of smoke. In the middle of the room is a chair, blacked with fire. Tied to the chair with metal chains is a small charred body.

"It's the boy," states Yvonne.

Tony rushes over and feels for a pulse. "He's got a pulse." He announces, "it's faint but it's their."

Yvonne gets straight on her radio for an ambulance and relays the details. The boy slowly regains consciousness, just as the paramedics arrive, and he is transported to the ambulance and taken to the local hospital.

The Sun Hill officers seal off the scene for the crime scene investigators and head back to Sun Hill.

**

* * *

Andrea's Flat, A Few Hours Later: **

"I can't believe that boy is still alive," states Andrea.

"I know, it's a miracle," says Neil.

"Who could do such a thing?"

"I don't know, but whoever's behind this is in line for a long stretch in prison when we catch him."

"IF we catch him."

"We will it's just a matter of time."

They sink down on the sofa in front of the television, not really paying attention to it, but chatting between them.

"What was that with Yvonne about earlier? Do they know about us?"

"I don't think so. I hope not, it's some sort of rumour she heard from Phil or something."

"We've got to be careful about who knows. It could put both of our jobs in jeopardy, not to mention everything else."

"I know."

"Changing the subject, have you dug up anything else on Gabriel?"

"No, nothing, I thought we'd have found something else by now."

"Is Bruce still threatening to go on with his plan?"

"Yeah. God, this is such a mess."

"We'll work something out."

As the hours roll round and midnight draws closer, they migrate to bed, knowing that tomorrow will be a tiring day.

* * *

**Another Chapter Complete and who knows how many more to come. (I can count at least 3 so far, maybe more, i was thinking about doing a week in there lives sort of thing but i don't know yet. You'll have to wait and see.)**

**Please Read and Review.**

**Also archived on www(dot)sunhillstories(dot)co(dot)nr**

**Replace (dot) with (.)**


	3. DAY 3

**Well I almost forgot about this story. I just found it sitting on my computer hard drive. The story is far from over, and you can expect at least another 2 (possibly more) chapters from this in the near future (How many times have I said that before?)**

**Also look out for the beginning of a new series i'm working on, all being well you can expect the first part up, before the end of August (No promises though, time seems to be running away from me at the moment) The title is (will be) _Summertime Dreaming_, see my profile for the details.**

* * *

**DAY 3 **

**

* * *

Sun Hill CID:**

Andrea, Neil and Yvonne had just returned from the hospital. The young boy woke up sometime in the night and is now recovering quite well, with his parents by his bedside. Phil, Sam and Ken are busy trying to track down the location of their suspect who they've come to refer to as the Polka dot short man, without much success.

They spend over 5 hours sifting through mountains of paperwork and information before they finally find something useful. An old case file that documents a similar case.

Phil shows there findings to the DI, hoping that it is the breakthrough they need.

"What have you got Phil?"

Phil hands over the file. "This case from 20 years ago documents a similar case. A man in polka dot shorts abducted 10 children and burned them all to death. He disappeared before anyone could catch him."

"Has this person got a name?"

"Yes Gov, a Thomas F Gregory, I checked his background and it says he hasn't been seen or heard from in over 18 years. He was presumed dead."

"It looks like that wasn't the case. What about a possible location?"

"An abandoned building down by the river looks like the most likely spot. He apparently used to hang out down there when he was young. According to his records, his younger brother drowned in the river at the age of 8. They were running from a nearby building that had been set alite and dived in the river to safety. His brother couldn't swim and drowned in the water."

"Excellent, that could be our motive, gather up a team and lets get down there."

**

* * *

2 Hours Later:**

The old building was surrounded by waiting police officers. Neil gave the signal and everyone rushed into the building to arrest the suspect. Amid the shouting and screaming and stampeding feet they eventually managed to corner there suspect and arrest him.

He is forced into the back of a police van and transported to Sun Hill Station. He is booked into custody and locked in an empty cell.

Back up in CID everyone is celebrating the arrest.

"Who's up for a pint?" someone asks.

"First rounds on me!" someone else says.

The officers all make their way out of the building and into the local pub.

"You uniform girls are coming too aren't you?" asks Ken.

"Of course they are," says Rob, putting his arms round their shoulders, "right?"

Andrea and Yvonne look at each other for support before following the others down to the pub.

**

* * *

In The Pub:**

They find a table large enough for all of them and settle down. Ken and Rob get the first round after asking what everybody wants.

Andrea is sat squashed between Yvonne and Neil.

"So are you gonna put me out of my misery?" Yvonne asks Andrea, out of earshot of the others.

"I don't know what your on about," answers Andrea, trying to get the spotlight off her.

"Oh, come on, you do, Mr Mystery Lover. So, who is he?"

"Do we have to go through this again."

"Yes. Why all the secrecy? It's not Meadows is it?"

"NO!" yells Andrea in shock making everyone look at her.

She gets up to go the ladies room, with Yvonne following.

"I know who it is!" states Yvonne proudly when they're in the safety of the ladies room; "It's the DI isn't it?" she whispers in her ear.

Andrea's face goes from red to white then back to red again in shock and embarrassment.

"I knew it!" proclaims Yvonne a lot louder this time, "don't worry, your secret's safe with me. So how long? I want all the gossip."

"Theirs nothing to tell," replies Andrea.

"How long have you been with him?" Yvonne repeats.

"About five an a half months now," confesses Andrea unwillingly, "Yvonne you gotta swear not to tell anyone."

"Don't worry I won't," she answers, both of them heading back to the table.

They sit down back in their previous seats with their drink's. The others are laughing about something or another.

"You should have seen the look on his face," someone says before collapsing in another fit of laughter.

"What are you on about?" asks Andrea confused.

"Meadow's" someone manages to get out before bursting out laughing again.

Neil explains, "someone covered Meadows' office in toilet paper the other day and when he saw it, well lets just say he wasn't best pleased."

Andrea bursts out laughing, knowing full well who was responsible for the incident.

"I'd hate to be whoever did it when he catches them," states Yvonne.

"I agree, " says Andrea.

"So which one of you lot is behind it?" Neil asks the boys, knowing it was none of them.

"Not me, Not me," they all say.

"Speaking of the DCI," interrupts Andrea.

Everyone shuts up laughing, and looks towards him expecting trouble.

Jack Meadows walks up to them; "Good job with the abduction case Neil," he says, "By the way did you lose something," he adds, dropping a small camera into the centre of the table.

Neil and Andrea visibly pale. "Gov," Neil gulps.

"Some interesting footage on their by the way. You might want to watch it, and next time you plan on pulling a prank on someone Neil, make sure you hide the camera somewhere it CAN'T be found."

Andrea gulps and tries to hide behind Yvonne, without much success.

Jack Meadow's turns around and walks out of the pub.

"Phew," exhales Andrea, "that was too close."

"Don't tell me you had something to do with this prank too?" asks Yvonne already guessing the answer.

"I've gone and put my foot in it again, haven't I?" she asks looking from Neil to Yvonne and back again.

"Yep," answer Neil and Yvonne together.

"No way," jumps in Phil, "I can't be hearing this right."

Trying to change the subject, Yvonne suggests a drinking competition.

It works and not long after they are all cheering each other on.

Within a couple of hours they are all very drunk. Stumbling to the exit, Sam and a couple of the others head home. The only people left in the pub are Neil, Andrea, Phil and Yvonne.

"Well I don't know about the rest of you but I'm going home," states Neil, the most sober of all of them, "I suggest the rest of you do the same."

Andrea attempts to stand up but loses her footing and collapses into Neil's arms. "Easy," he says as he easily catches her and helps her to stand back up.

"Somebody's had a bit too much to drink," giggles a just as drunk Yvonne.

"I'll walk her home, are you two coming?"

"Jjjusss gonna finisssssh meee drink," slurs Phil.

"Me too," states Yvonne still giggling drunkenly.

"Ok, see you both tomorrow," says Neil before making his way to the exit with Andrea safely in his arms.

"Let's get you home," he says to her, gently kissing her on the head.

They stumble down the street towards Andrea's flat and just about manage to get inside before they collapse on the sofa, totally exhausted. They stay there for a few minutes to regain their strength before making their way upstairs to bed.

* * *

**Don't forget to Read and Review.**


	4. DAY 4

**Author's Notes: A short chapter but one that's needed none the less. This is all i've got for now, so you might have to wait a while for the next chapter, I can g****uarantee** at least 1 more chapter possibly 2 or 3, depends on how much space it takes to finish it off. 

**One more thing, Neil isn't married to Phillipa in this story, They divorced over 2 years ago. You'll see the reason for this in the next chapter.**

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far, and to anyone who has read this story but hasn't reviewed.**

**A special note to Gem6 (and anyone else who's interested) they have got to be alot more careful, but it gets worse before it gets better.

* * *

DAY 4**

A special note to Gem6 (and anyone else who's interested) they have got to be alot more careful, but it gets worse before it gets better. 

The sun rises over the horizon and envelopes the city of London in a beautiful golden glow. In a small, but cosy apartment in the centre of the Canley borough a young couple are fast asleep. The buzzing of the nearby alarm clock, not enough to rouse them from their sleepy haze. The alarm clock is joined by the ringing of the telephone, which eventually wakes up the sleepy pair.

Not realising where he is and still half asleep Neil picks up the phone and says sleepy into it, "Hello!"

The person on the other end of the line is shocked to hear, a familiar voice but not the one they expected to hear.

"Neil is that you?" says Gina Gold.

"Shit," Neil mumbles, realising what he's done, "Yes Ma'am" he reluctantly answers.

"I was trying to call PC Dunbar, I must have dialled the wrong number, well I'm sorry to disturb you, oh and Meadows is looking for you."

"You haven't dialled the wrong number, it's my fault, what was it you wanted?"

"I was calling to see if PC Dunbar was going to grace us with her presence today, considering it's now nearly half past eleven and she should have been here at nine this morning."

"That would be my fault," Neil admits, "I'll make sure she gets there as soon as possible."

He puts the phone down and gently tries to wake Andrea up.

She wakes up to the sound of Neil quietly whispering in her ear. She rolls over to face him but makes no further sign of getting up.

"Gina Gold just phoned," he tells her.

"What did she say?"

"Nothing much, just wondering why you're not at work, that and why I was answering your phone."

"Oh crap," Andrea exclaims, "I take it we've both got some questions to answer."

"I would assume so yes, but I may have an idea."

"What kind of an idea."

"The simple answer to the questions she'll probably ask. Just say that I walked you home from the pub last night and fell asleep on the sofa."

"I'm sure she's really gonna believe that. People are already getting suspicious, if ever they here about this …"

"Rumours are gonna fly," he finishes for her.

"Yeah, well best get it over with," says Andrea attempting to get up and ready for the day.

She instantly lies back down when a nauseous feeling overtakes her senses.

"I don't feel so good," she mumbles, attempting to sit up again but more slowly this time.

She treks down to the kitchen to get a paracetamol before heading to the shower to prepare for the day.

Neil follows her example and also gets ready for work.

They arrive at the station sometime around one o clock, of the afternoon and Neil quickly makes a dash for his office, hoping no one has noticed his absence.

Andrea walks straight to Inspector Gold's office dreading what is to come. She knocks on the door and enters when told to.

"Ma'am," she greets.

"PC Dunbar, nice of you to turn up this morning."

"Sorry Ma'am, I didn't hear my alarm go off."

"I'm sure you didn't, I take it your aware I tried to call you this morning? Quite a shock I can assure you."

"Ma'am, it's not like you think."

"Would you care to explain?"

"I don't know what you know or how much you've concluded but, theirs a really simple explanation, I was drunk, he walked me home, it was late so I said he could sleep on the sofa," Andrea explains.

"Fair enough I suppose, right because you've missed half of the shift already, your in custody for today, ok?"

"Yes Ma'am."

"Best get on with it then."

Andrea heads out of the office and into custody relived that Inspector Gold didn't go mad at her. Not looking where she is going she almost walks straight into Smithy.

"Sorry," she apologises.

"You decided to join us today then?"

Andrea just nods her head as an answer.

**

* * *

A few hours later.**

Andrea is behind the desk in custody when Yvonne and Honey come in ready to go for refs.

"So you did make it in today then," says Yvonne as loud as she can.

Andrea puts her head on the desk and covers her ears, "keep your voices down," she mumbles.

"Somebody's got a hangover," sings Honey.

"I don't think that's all she's got," says Yvonne.

They are interrupted from saying any more when another voice interrupts them. "Haven't you got somewhere you're supposed to be?"

"Sir," say Honey and Yvonne scurrying off to the cafeteria.

"You ok" Neil asks Andrea.

"I've been better," she mumbles.

There is silence why they think of something else to say.

"NEIL," Okaro bellows.

Andrea flinches at the sound and attempts to cover her ears. "This is gonna be a long day," she mumbles.

"Gov," says Neil to Okaro.

"Where have you been all morning?"

"Out gathering evidence sir."

"Very well then, anything to report on our other little chat?"

"Not yet Sir, no."

"Keep at it, I want this sorted as soon as possible."

"Yes Sir."

Okaro walks off in another direction.

"What was all that about?" asks Andrea.

"I shouldn't really be telling you this but he's worried about the leak. Thinks its someone on the inside."

"What have you said?"

"Nothing, he keeps asking me to dig up what I can but as far as he's concerned I've got nothing yet."

"He's not gonna be patient with you for long."

"I know, but that's the best I can do for now. Anyway, I better get back to CID before someone realises I'm missing again. Talk to you later," he says before wandering back up to CID.

The rest of the day is pretty uneventful and the end of the shift rolls round slowly. Andrea meets Honey and Yvonne in the ladies locker room.

"Feeling any better this evening?" Yvonne asks.

"Yeah a lot better thanks."

They exit the locker room and walk out into the yard chatting noisily. Just as they walk out into the car park Neil comes up behind them.

"PC Dunbar can I have a word please?" he calls.

"You guys carry on," Andrea says to Yvonne and Honey, "I'll see you tomorrow."

They wave goodbye before continuing on their way home. Andrea turns to face Neil looking at him expectantly.

"You got any plans for this evening?" he asks her.

"Not that I know of why?"

"Something's come up; some information that I think will be useful, only problem is, everyone else seems in a rush to get home."

"What are you trying to say Neil?"

"Will you come with me to check it out?"

"Yeah, sure," she answers.

They walk over to his car and get in unaware that Adam Okaro is watching them from his office window.

They drive out of the station grounds and towards Andrea's flat.

"What's all of this about?" Andrea asks.

"This stuff about the sniper, you said you think Gabriel Kent might be involved, it turns out you could be right. A snout gave me some info about a meeting in the Red Lion, later this evening. It could be nothing but I think it would be best to check it out; if you think you're up to it?"

They pull up in front of Andrea's flat and get out of the car; they walk to the door and find somebody sitting on the step.

"Honey," says Andrea shocked, "what are you doing here?"

"PC Harmon," Neil says, not really knowing how to react knowing she must be drawing all sorts of conclusions from the current situation.

"Sir," Honey says, not really expecting to see the DI at her best friend's flat, she turns her attention to Andrea and says, "I though you might fancy a girlie night out, but if you've got other plans …"

Andrea opens the door and invites them both in. She leaves them in the living room while she goes and puts the kettle on. She returns to find them standing awkwardly in the middle of the room. She tells them both to sit down on one of the large sofas and then goes back to the kitchen to make the tea. She returns to the living room carrying three large mugs of steaming tea. She puts them on the coffee table in the centre of the room before sinking down next to Neil.

Honey is the first to break the silence. "I'm guessing you don't want to come tonight then?"

"If you'd have asked me half an hour ago I would have said yes," Andrea answers, "but something else has just cropped up."

The telephone rings startling all of them. Andrea gets up to answer it.

"Andrea," says the voice on the other end, "I've got that information you was after."

"This is not a good time," Andrea says into the phone, "can I call you back in about an hour?"

"I'm busy Andrea, why can't we talk about this now?"

"I'll have to call you back," says Andrea before putting down the phone, not waiting for a reply.

Honey stands up, "I better go," she says heading towards the door.

Andrea looses her out and they agree to chat at work tomorrow morning. She walks back inside and sits down next to Neil.

"Who was on the phone?" he asks, "Bruce?"

"Yeah," Andrea replies, "he said he's got that information I was looking into about Gabriel."

"What information?"

"I told you I think Gabriel's up to something, and about him being June's son."

"Yeah, is that it?"

"So far yes, but I'm sure there is something else. Something just seems wrong about all of this."

They talk for a few more minutes before Andrea calls Bruce back to see what he has found out.

Andrea, relay's the information to Neil and they plan what they're gonna do. They agree to go undercover in the Red Lion Inn to find out what information Neil's snout has come upon. They get changed and arrive at the inn at 8pm. Inside they are met with another shock. Sitting by the bar are the last people they expected to see, Adam Okaro and Gina Gold.

They make a quick decision to pretend they haven't seen them but are too late. Gina turns round and spots them and automatically alerts Adam Okaro. With no way out of this awkward situation, Neil and Andrea walk over to where their two superiors are sitting.

"Fancy seeing you here," is the only thing that Neil can come up with.

"Neil, Andrea," Gina and Adam say simultaneously, "any chance of explaining what exactly your doing?" asks the Super completely confused.

Neil is lost for words so Andrea takes the initiative, "some information came to light late this afternoon, so we're just following it up, see if theirs anything in it."

They all look at her stunned for a few minutes before Neil continues her explanation. "I heard some information from a snout earlier that someone was planning some kind of meeting in here tonight, by the time I got back to the station practically everyone had gone home. I managed to run into Andrea on the way home so asked her to help."

"We'll leave you to it then," says Gina, turning her attention back to her drink.

Okaro does the same, leaving Andrea and Neil to find a table elsewhere.

They find a table in the far corner, with a clear view of the rest of the room. Neil gets them both a drink and they sit down side by side. They scan the room with their eyes but see no sign of their target.

"Looks like he's not here yet," states Neil sitting back into his seat.

"Yeah, it seems weird with Inspector Gold and the super here."

"That's true. I wonder what they're doing here anyway."

"Having a drink and a friendly chat," giggles Andrea.

"Real funny; I think that statement applies to just about everybody in here. So … I hope PC Harmon doesn't get the wrong idea about earlier; I mean, she must have questions about me driving you home."

"Don't worry about it. It'll be fine, you know what she's like, I'll have a word with her in the morning but … it's Yvonne I'm worried about, she figured a few things out the other night and I don't think she'll keep it to herself for long."

"What do you mean exactly? What's she figured out?"

"Us!"

"You think she'll say something?"

"She's not known as the station gossip for nothing and if ever Honey says anything about earlier, the whole station will have heard by lunchtime."

"What can we do about it?"

"Not a lot really, I can try talking to them but … we both knew it would come out eventually,"

"There he is," Neil interrupts her, "In the green jacket by the bar."

They cease their conversation and watch the man by the bar, who is soon approached by another man. They exchange a few words and then sit down at a table.

"I can't hear what they're saying," says Andrea.

"Neither can I," replies Neil not taking his eyes off the other men.

The men sit talking for a good hour then get up and leave the pub.

"Lets follow them," says Neil getting up and putting his jacket on.

He passes Andrea her coat and they both head out of the pub.

Outside they get in the car and follow the men through the streets of London. They end up outside a flat that they know belongs to Gabriel Kent. This is confirmed when they see him open the door and invite the men inside.

"What now?" asks Andrea.

"We've got 2 choices. We can stay here and wait for them to come out, or we can leave it and go home."

They decide to go home.

**

* * *

A few hours later at Andrea's flat.**

"Do you think we'll ever find anything to incriminate Gabriel?"

"Andrea, we both know this isn't gonna be easy. If what you've said is true we're gonna have to pull out all the stops to prove it, but I believe you may be onto something here, and I'm not gonna give in till we prove it."

"What if we never find anything?"

"Then I'll never stop searching. I'm in this for the long haul Andrea, I'm not gonna give up easily."

They look at the clock and notice its past 2am.

"Lets get some sleep. We've got to be up for work in a few hours," says Neil.

They settle into the bed blankets and fall asleep in each others arms. 


	5. DAY 5

**Author's Notes: Well here's chapter 5 for you all. There's only another couple of chapters to go I figure (I haven't written any more yet so I don't know how many there's gonna be).**

**Please Read and Review**

**

* * *

DAY 5**

An unidentifiable sound startles Andrea awake. She sits up and listens, hoping to hear the sound again.

Tap, Tap Tap.

Someone's at the door, she realises, struggling to get out from under the mess of blankets. She crawls out of bed quickly searching for something to put on. She grabs the first thing she finds, which just happens to be Neil's crisp white shirt.

She goes to the door and opens it slowly. Standing on the other side is Honey Harmon and Gina Gold.

"Morning," Honey says cheerfully, ignoring Andrea's state of undress.

"Come at a bad time, did we?" Gina says already knowing the answer.

"What's with the shirt?" jumps in Honey, not giving Andrea a chance to speak, "seems Yvonne's right, is Mr Mystery Lover Here? Who is he?"

"If you'll give me a chance to reply," says Andrea, already fed up with the intruders, who barged past her and are now sitting in the living room.

All hell breaks loose at what happens next.

Neil walks into the room in nothing but his grey boxers. All eyes turn to look at the person standing in the doorway. Nobody dares speak, all thinking pretty much along the same lines.

Gina eventually breaks the silence, "Neil," she greets in her usual way.

"Gov," Honey says, not knowing what else to say.

"Oh shit," mumble Andrea and Neil, knowing there is no way out of this difficult situation.

"Isn't this a surprise?" adds Gina sarcastically, "a little drunk again last night Andrea?"

"Why did I answer the door again?" Andrea asks herself aloud.

Neil backs away from the doorway and heads back to the bedroom to get dressed, not saying anything to anyone for fear of causing even more embarrassment.

"I think I better go get dressed," says Andrea to Inspector Gold and Honey, slowly heading towards the door, "make yourselves a drink or something, the kitchens through there," Andrea points out the kitchen doorway before retreating to the safety of her bedroom.

In the bedroom

"There's no way out of it this time is there?" Neil asks Andrea.

"No, they're not gonna believe a word of excuses, I wish I hadn't opened the door now."

"Well I didn't help matters much I suppose, it would've been better if I stayed in here."

"What do we do then?"

"Tell them the truth, well part of the truth, not about Gabriel or Bruce; we'll keep that between us. With any look we may be able to get them to keep things to themselves for now."

"Maybe."

They both get dressed and head back to the others, ready to face the inevitable.

* * *

**In the Kitchen**

Gina and Honey are sitting in the kitchen, silently sipping from cups of coffee. They turn to face Neil and Andrea when they walk into the room. Andrea heads straight for the kettle pouring her and Neil a well earned cuppa. Neil hovering over her, afraid to face the stares of the others.

When Neil and Andrea finally turn to face Gina and Honey they are surprised to find them in complete silence.

"I'm guessing you've got lots of questions," Andrea breaks the uncomfortable silence.

"Well what can I say," says Gina, "I wasn't expecting you to open the door in nothing but a shirt, and I certainly didn't expect to see you Neil, walking around in your underwear. I'm assuming you've got a perfectly good explanation for this?"

"I'm guessing you wouldn't believe me saying we were both very drunk?" asks Andrea.

"After yesterday morning, no," answers Gina.

"I thought that might be the case."

Neil sits down on the chair opposite Gina, pulling Andrea onto his lap and wrapping his arms comfortably around her waist.

"Isn't this a cosy picture," Honey buts in, not sure what else to say.

Neil looks at Andrea for confirmation before starting to explain the situation.

"I can't really think of any excuses so …" Neil trails off hoping the others will fill in the rest of the story for themselves.

"So Yvonne was telling the truth yesterday?" proclaims Honey loudly.

"What do you mean?" Andrea asks warily, "what has she said?"

"Yesterday at refs, she said about how drunk you were at the pub, that you couldn't even stand up and had one of the boys take you home. She couldn't remember who though, but I guess we all do now."

There was no getting out of it.

"So," Honey started again, "How long? Is it serious?"

Andrea reluctantly answers, "Yeah, and about 6 months now."

"WHAT?" say both Honey and Gina together, "That long? And you've kept it quiet,"

"Yeah," Neil and Andrea answer "Do us a favour yeah, keep it to yourselves. I'm not sure we're ready to explain to the whole station yet."

"Yeah ok." They all agree and Honey and Gina leave, allowing them the time to get ready for work.

* * *

**Late that afternoon in the ladies toilets.**

Yvonne and Honey walk into the toilets talking loudly between themselves about the drug dealer they had arrested earlier. All of the stall doors, but one was open. They heard somebody in the closed stall throwing up.

"Who's in there? Are you alright?" calls out Yvonne always concerned about her colleagues welfare.

She gets no reply and so she gently pushes open the stall door. Inside, with her head hung over the toilet bowl is Andrea.

"Hey, are you ok?" Yvonne asks again.

Andrea nods her head, flushes the toilet and stands up. "Yeah, fine" she says walking to the sink to wash her hands.

"Ands, what's up, you don't sound fine to me."

Andrea turns to face Yvonne debating whether to tell her. "Yvonne, keep a secret?" she asks.

"Course I will, what's wrong?"

"Nothings wrong, I'm …" she pauses, "pregnant."

"Congratulations, since when?"

"I found out about an hour ago."

"Does anyone else know yet? Who's the father? Does he know?" questions Yvonne without thinking.

"Did you just say what I think you said?" asks Honey, staring at Andrea in surprise, "today's just full of surprises isn't it?"

Andrea takes a deep breath, "yes I said what you think I said Honey, and no, no one else knows, and I'm sure you can work out whom by yourselves."

"The DI? No way, are you gonna tell him?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna tell him."

"Can we come?"

"No!"

* * *

Andrea makes her way out of the toilets and up the stairs to CID. She bumps into Phil on the way up and asks, "Is the DI in his office?" 

"Yeah," Phil answers.

She trots up the few remaining stairs and nervously walks through CID aware of the stares she is getting. She knocks gently on the DI's door and waits to be called in.

"Have you got a minute Sir?" asks Andrea professionally.

"Sure come in," he says ushering her in and closing the door behind her. "What's wrong? You look pale," he asks.

Andrea sits down not sure how to tell him the news. Neil paces up and down the room slightly impatient.

"I … I'm not sure how to tell you this," she tells him truthfully.

"Surely it can't be that bad?"

She sits in silence for a few minutes gathering her courage.

"Neil; I'm pregnant," she tells him quietly, expecting him to go mad.

They never planned any of this and she doesn't know quite what to expect. Will he ever speak to her again? She hoped this wouldn't cause any problems between them. He almost blew his top when she confessed to being a journalist.

"Say that again," Neil said calmly.

She repeated her sentence a little louder dreading his next move.

Instead of yelling at her like she expected, he pulled her into a big hug, holding her close. After a minute he took a small step back, so he could see her face, but not far enough away that she wasn't still in his arms. He kissed her gently, once, twice. Maybe this isn't the best place for this, Neil thinks but still doesn't attempt to break their kiss.

A quick knock on the door is the only warning they get, as Phil barges through the door, witnessing the scene before him.

"Hello, hello, hello; what's going on here then?" he says.

Neil and Andrea instantly jump apart looking very flushed. "Don't you ever knock?" Neil yells at him.

"Sorry Gov, I'll come back later shall I?" Phil says backing away from the door well aware that he had interrupted an intimate moment between his colleagues.

"Ever get the feeling we should have stayed home today?" Neil says to Andrea with a small smile.

"There's still time," Andrea jokes back.

"What was it you wanted Phil?" Neil asks him.

"Just wanted to tell you I've finished all the paperwork on the kidnapping case if you want it."

"Thanks Phil, leave it on my desk and I'll sort it."

"Gov."

Phil drops the files on the desk and leaves the office.

"That can not be good!" states Andrea, getting really worried.

"Don't panic, I'm sure everything will work out fine."

"Have you lost your mind? It's bad enough with the Inspector, Honey and Yvonne knowing, but there's no way Phil is gonna keep quiet about this. We're totally screwed."

"We'll sort something out. I'm not giving up on you Andrea; I'm not giving up on us; No matter what."

They fall into silence, contemplating what's happened and what they can do about it. The clock ticks loudly in the background, the noise resounding loudly off the walls.

"You know," Neil breaks the silence, "I think we should go to Okaro, tell him everything, and get it all out in the open, before someone else does."

"You can't be serious?"

"I'm deadly serious. Think about it, if we tell Okaro now, we're protecting our own backs, Inspector Gold will tell him anyway; they've always been close. This way, we can choose how much to say, and it'll work out better."

Andrea sinks down into the chair, thinking about what has been said. If they tell Okaro, they could be getting themselves into even more trouble, but if they don't … someone else will, either way, there's no way out.

"Ok," she finally says, barely above a whisper.

Neil heads towards the door and slowly opens it before turning back to face her, "are you coming?"

"You mean now?"

"Why not, let's get it over with as soon as possible."

"How much are you thinking of telling him?"

"Everything, us, Bruce, Gabriel, everything. It's the only way."

Andrea reluctantly gets up and follows him out of the room, looking warily around her, at the accusing looks, from the people around her.

* * *

They arrive at the Superintendent's door and pause briefly. "Are you ready for this?" Neil asks. 

Andrea nods her head and Neil taps gently on the door.

"Come in," Adam calls.

Neil steps into the room, followed cautiously by Andrea.

"DI Manson, PC Dunbar, what can I do for you?"

"Sir," Neil begins, "I think there are a few things you should be aware of."

"This wouldn't have anything to do with what I was told this morning would it?" interrupts Okaro.

"Possibly sir, what was it that you've heard?"

"Sit down," Okaro instructs them, pointing to the chairs opposite him and waiting for them before continuing, "Without going into detail, Inspector Gold came to see me lunchtime and said she had been to visit you this morning," he directed his explanation towards Andrea, "What she saw, and heard, how can I put this, came as quiet a shock."

Neil turned to look at Andrea for support before attempting to explain.

"That's what we wanted to talk to you about Sir, well amongst other things."

"What other things?" Okaro jumps in, before anyone has a chance to continue.

Neil takes a deep breath, debating with himself on where to start. "Well to start with, what Inspector Gold told you this morning is the truth, but there's a bit more to it than that. You see, I'm not sure how to explain this, but you remember the other night, at The Red Loin Inn, I deliberately asked Andrea, PC Dunbar to help." Neil explains.

"I'm not sure I know where this is going."

"To cut a long story short, we've been trailing someone, who we suspect among other things, is guilty of GBH, ABH, manslaughter, rape and a hell of a lot of other things."

"Is this an official enquiry?"

"No sir, a lot of the information has come to light through unofficial channels, through sources I don't think you'd approve of."

"What are you saying Neil, Which sources, or better yet who's the suspect?"

Neil takes a calming breath, thinking over his words and debating how much to tell him, "The suspect is a David Kent, also known as PC Gabriel Kent."

"WHAT?" bellows Okaro.

Andrea takes over the explanations, "I accidentally stumbled upon some information about Gabriel being Sergeant Ackland's son. I looked into it deeper and found out that the person who we all know as Gabriel Kent, is actually David Kent, the real Gabriel Kent's brother, well sort of."

"Where did you find all of this?"

"That's the bit you won't like, I got it off an old friend from Scotland, he's a Journalist."

"WHAT you know all the trouble the press can cause, and you let them get old of confidential information. Do you realise the trouble this could cause?"

Andrea sinks back in her chair close to tears. How could he be so thoughtless? Neil wraps a protective arm across her shoulders, aware of the strange looks he is getting from the Superintendent.

"She only gave him a name sir; he hasn't got a clue what it's about, he just put us in touch with the right people if you know what I mean?"

"Ok, so what else have you found? And why didn't you come to me before hand?"

"It was all just speculation at first sir; we only found something a little more conclusive the other day. There's something else though, Gabriel's got proven links to the sniper, he and the suspect were in the army together."

"Right, I've got no choice but to pass this onto MIT and CIB, gather everything you've got on this for tomorrow, ok? Is that everything?"

Andrea look's at Neil, silently asking with her eyes if she should tell Okaro about their most recent discovery. He gives a quick nod of his head in answer.

"There's one more thing you should be aware of Sir," says Andrea cautiously, "I … I'm Pregnant!"

Okaro just stares at them, open mouthed and in obvious shock. "How long?" he manages to get out.

"I found out this morning, so I don't really know," answers Andrea truthfully.

Silence falls on the room, all of them contemplating what has been said. "Ok," Okaro eventually says, "I want you to gather all this information for MIT, and then I want you to go home and get some rest, both of you. Come see me in my office at 10am tomorrow, are we clear?"

"Crystal sir;"

Andrea and Neil stand up, push their Chairs back under the desk and leave the office.

* * *


	6. DAY 6

**Authors Notes:**

Just a quick note today. Thanks for all the reviews and support you have all given me. I couldn't have finished this without your encouragement. A special note goes out to:

Fabio, and Gem6. Thanks guys. (PS i've added alittle surprise for you in this chapter Gem, since you are missing Claire and John so much.)

Read, Review and Enjoy.

* * *

**Day 6**

Andrea once again awakens to the sound of her alarm clock and Neil nipping at her ear.

"Morning beautiful," he mumbles lovingly in her ear.

"Morning," she replies, rolling around to face him and then kissing him passionately.

They stay like this for a long time, kissing passionately, and hands caressing each other under the blankets.

"We've got to go see Okaro in an hour," mumbles Neil between kisses.

Andrea reluctantly breaks the contact between them and stands up; "Guess we better get ready then."

Neil gets up and follows her to the bathroom determined to get this meeting with Okaro and MIT over as soon as possible.

They shower and dress in relative silence, before going down to the kitchen and sharing a breakfast of coffee and toast. After breakfast they gather their things and head out of the front door to the car.

The drive to the station passes in silence, both too deep in thought about what is in store for them today to bother with conversation. Neil drives into the station yard and pulls up in his usual spot. As they get out of the car, neither of them notices the curious stares of the officers who pass them.

They walk straight up the stairs to the Superintendents office. Neil knocks on the door and enters the room when given permission to do so, Andrea following closely behind him.

"DI Manson, PC Dunbar, take a seat," greets Adam Okaro, gesturing to the two seats opposite him.

Andrea and Neil sit down and wait for him to continue.

"I take it you have bought the information you have gathered on PC Kent?"

"Yes sir," Neil answers placing a manilla folder on the desk in front of them all.

"As I said yesterday I have no choice but to pass this information on to MIT and CIB. I'm not happy about any of this but that doesn't matter right now. What does matter is the both of you. After what you told me yesterday, I have to consider whether it is really appropriate for you both to be working under the same roof."

"I'm not sure I see what you're getting at Gov," states Neil looking very confused, "Just because things are out in the open now I don't see how it changes things!"

"Let me put this simply," starts Okaro, "Relationships in the work place are not that rare and under other circumstances I wouldn't say anything about it, but when it interferes with work I have to consider the possible consequences it could have on not just the two of you, but the whole station as well."

"With all due respect sir, I can't see your reasoning here. As I said before, just because people know about us now, does it really change anything? We're both adults, we know when to keep things separate from work. If it wasn't for the events of the past few weeks, would you have even noticed at all?"

"Those are some good points you raise there Neil, but I just can't ignore it either. I tell you what I'll do, for now I'll leave things as they are, but I will be keeping a firm eye on the both of you. If I find that things are causing problems in any way I will have to consider transferring one, or both of you to other stations. Do I make myself clear?"

Yes Sir," both Andrea and Neil answer together.

"Also, I am going to have to put you on light duties, for obvious reasons."

"Yes Sir,"

After they are dismissed from the office they make their way downstairs to the main entrance.

**

* * *

Meanwhile (Downstairs in the Main Entrance Area.)**

The door bursts open and a group of five people storm in, some of them very familiar. Everyone stops what they are doing and turn to face the intruders.

"What's going on?" asks Honey completely bewildered.

"I don't believe it!" mutters Smithy staring at the intruders.

"Where is PC Kent?" demands a spiky haired man who appears to be the leader of the intrusion.

"WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING?" demands Gina Gold stepping in front of the man and blocking his path.

"Detective Superintendent Hodges, CIB," answers the man not bothering to introduce the others, "Now if you don't mind …"

Gina hesitantly steps out of the way and silently points to Gabriel Kent, who is hiding behind a bunch of the others who have gathered to see what all of the commotion is about. People step out of the way one by one as the man ploughs forwards, clearing a path way; but before the man can reach him, Gabriel makes a run for the door.

One of the other men grabs him just as he is about to escape out of the door, and pushes him to the floor.

"David Kent, I am arresting you for GBH, ABH, manslaughter and impersonation of a police officer, you do not have to say anything when questioned, something that may later be relied on in court. You do not have to say anything but anything you do say may be given in evidence, do I make myself clear?"

Gabriel nods his head in answer.

"Gov," the arresting officer says to the spiky haired man.

"Put him in the car Chris, I'll be with you in a minute."

Chris and one of the other CIB officers escort Gabriel out to the car waiting outside.

"Sorry about the disturbance," Hodges says to Inspector Gold before turning to his two remaining members of staff; "John, Claire, I trust you can take things from here?"

"Of course Gov," Claire answers him.

With that Hodges leaves the building and chatter erupts between the people standing in the station. Andrea walks up behind Honey and Yvonne, Neil following closely behind her.

"Hey Andy, you just missed Gabriel being arrested," Yvonne tells her.

"I know," she answers honestly, being careful not to give too much away with the tone of her voice.

"What do you mean? What do you know that we don't?"

Andrea looks at Neil, the silent question shining in her eyes. "I was told a couple of minutes ago that CIB were coming to arrest him. I can't say anymore than that," she tells them.

"Ok, I suppose, I still can't work out how you found out before the rest of us though," mumbles Yvonne dejectedly, "and where were you this morning, I didn't see you in the briefing."

"We had a meeting with Okaro," Andrea answers her.

"I'll be back in a sec," Neil butts into the conversation, before wondering off into the crowd.

"Have you told him then?" asks Honey a bit too loudly.

"Told who, what?" asks Smithy hearing Honey's question.

"Yes Honey, I told him yesterday, just after you found me. It's a bit of a long story serge, can I explain later?" she asks Smithy after answering Honey's question.

"I guess, but why can't you explain now?" asks Smithy.

"I've got a doctors appointment, excuse me," says Andrea before disappearing into the crowd to find Neil.

"Hey," Neil says when she appears behind him and taps him on the shoulder, "you ready to go?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," replies Andrea.

They make their way to the entrance door but before they can leave, they are stopped by the remaining two CIB officers.

"I'm awfully sorry but I'm afraid we can't allow anyone to leave the building until they have been questioned," states Claire.

"I've got a doctors appointment, Superintendent Okaro knows about it," explains Andrea.

"Ok, I guess, just make sure you return here afterwards, but that doesn't explain your reasons for leaving," she says to Neil.

"I was instructed to go with her, to give her a lift," says Neil.

It wasn't entirely the truth but was the best he could come up with on the spot.

Claire steps out of the way, silently giving them permission to leave the building.

**

* * *

Two Hours Later**

Andrea and Neil arrive back at the station to find nobody about.

"Where is everybody?" Andrea asks Neil.

"I've got no idea," Neil replies.

They continue walking through maze of corridors. Eventually as they walk past the briefing room they hear voices. Andrea pokes her head around the door and sees Yvonne and what looks to be the rest of the relief standing around chatting.

"Why's everyone in here?" she asks.

"The Superintendent called a staff meeting," someone answers.

Andrea shrugs her shoulders and walk's into the room, choosing to stand by Yvonne and her friends. Neil not knowing weather to stand with Andrea and the others or walk up to CID lingers in the doorway.

Andrea gestures for him to come and stand with her, and her friends, so after one final glance around the room he slowly approaches her. Hot long after Smithy approaches the group, "So, are you going to tell me what you lot was talking about earlier?" he asks directing his question towards Andrea.

All eyes turn to her expectantly.

"A little help here?" she asks looking in the direction of Honey, Yvonne and Neil.

Finally gaining the courage she needs she whispers, "I'm pregnant,"

"WHAT," shouts Gina from the doorway inadvertently hearing the conversation, "did I hear that right?"

"Here we go again," mumbles Neil under his breath.

"Would I be right in assuming this has something to do with the other day?" Gina asks.

"What happened the other day, have I missed something?" asks Smithy turning to look at each of them in turn, totally confused.

"May i?" asks Gina.

"May as well," answers Neil, "get it all over with and announced to the whole station."

Gina tells Smithy about her surprise visit to Andrea's flat the other day, before gaining the attention of the whole relief and stating that she has an announcement to make.

She proceeds to tell the whole relief the news of Andrea and Neil's secret relationship, causing a riot of questions.

Eventually the shift ends and after the events of the day have sunk in the endless questions stop and the relief all start to head home.

"Thank heavens that's over with," comments Andrea to Neil on the short walk to his car, "let's hope they don't start up again tomorrow."

They reach the car and get in, driving the short journey home.

The Next Morning

Andrea wakes up early and before heading to the kitchen, picks up the newspaper from by the door. She drops it on the kitchen table and then proceeds to boil the kettle for tea.

A few minutes later, Neil walks into the kitchen. He gives Andrea a good morning kiss then sits down at the table. He notices the newspaper on the tabletop and picks it up to look at the cover. On the front page is a picture of Sun Hill Station and underneath it is the headline 'Police Officer Arrested In Connection With The Sun Hill Sniper'. It seems Bruce doesn't need Andrea's help to get stories after all.

The End.


End file.
